President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump held another telephone conversation for an hour from 10:00 this evening. 

The two heads of state shared an understanding of the seriousness of the current situation in regard to North Korea’s long-range missile provocation and its government statement released yesterday. The two Presidents had an in-depth consultation on more concrete response measures going forward.

President Moon explained to the U.S. President that the Korean Government took very seriously North Korea’s statement the day before that it had reached the completion of the development of an ICBM and that it had realized the consummation of a nuclear arsenal. He added that even though the missile fired yesterday seemed arguably the most advanced one in every aspect, its re-entry and terminal-phase guidance technology was yet to be proven and whether or not the North had secured technology to miniaturize a nuclear warhead was unclear. President Moon continued that the pressing task would be to thoroughly stop North Korea from further advancing nuclear and missile technology and persuade it to ultimately give it up.

The two Presidents shared a common understanding that the two sides had to maintain their basic stance of putting strong sanctions and pressure on North Korea until it voluntarily gave up its nuclear and missile development and came forward to the negotiation table. They also agreed to work together to help the international community maximize its sanctions and pressure against the North on the basis of the two allied nations` close cooperation. 

President Moon said that, immediately after the North`s firing of a ballistic missile, the ROK Army, Navy and Air Force had conducted a surgical strike drill by firing ground-to-ground, ship-to-ground and air-to-ground missiles. Commenting on his prior approval of the drill, the President said it was intended to clearly show our military`s capabilities to strike the source of the North`s provocations. The President went on to say that a demonstration of our overwhelming military dominance based on the solid ROK-U.S. combined defense posture was of help in preventing the North from making a misjudgment. President Moon next expressed his appreciation to his U.S. counterpart for rendering full support for enhancing Korea’s self-defense capabilities through the purchase of the advanced U.S. military equipment, which Korea is actively pursuing. President Moon also noted that the commencement of consultations for the acquisition of military assets itself constituted a strong message to the North.   

President Trump took note of the Korean Government’s efforts and shared a common understanding on the need to restrain North Korea’s provocation and respond to its threat with an overwhelming superiority of power based on the robust combined defense posture of the ROK-U.S. alliance. Expressing his full support for the Korean Government’s endeavors to strengthen its defense capability by acquiring state-of-the-art military assets, the President reaffirmed the ironclad U.S. commitment to South Korea’s defense. 

Finally, the two heads of state agreed that it was important for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, which is taking place in 10 weeks, to be held peacefully and successfully. Regarding the issue, President Moon said he has been briefed on the U.S. Government decision to send a delegation of high-ranking officials to the PyeongChang Olympics and expressed his sincere gratitude to his U.S. counterpart. The President went on to say that if the decision is announced at an early stage, it would reassure the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and countries around the world of the safety of the Olympics and deliver a resolute message to the North. In response, President Trump said it would also be good for President Moon himself to inform the IOC about the U.S. Government decision.